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30 April 2013

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Apr 30 2013 (IPS) - Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez, like most citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, has probably lost count of the millions of dollars being spent to renovate the Greek revival style “Red House” that serves as the parliament building in the oil-rich twin island republic.

In fact, renovation work began more than a decade ago on the building, constructed in 1907 to replace the one destroyed in the 1903 water riots. Recent government estimates put the cost of restoring the original architectural design at 100 million dollars by the time the work is completed in 2015.

But a few weeks ago, Bharath-Hernandez, who is the head of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community and can trace his ancestry to the first inhabitants of the Caribbean – the Caribs and the Arawaks – took a renewed interest when workers discovered pottery artefacts and bone fragments possibly linked to the Amerindian heritage dating back to AD 0-350.

Bharath-Hernandez, whose community is 600 strong, has already visited the renovation site in the heart of the capital, Port of Spain, and told IPS he is “prepared to perform the necessary ancestral rituals once it is confirmed that the fragments are indeed Amerindian”.

The discovery has come at a time when the Carib community here is moving to construct a modern indigenous Amerindian Village at Santa Rosa, east of the capital, on the 25 acres of land provided by the government.

“We want to keep the village as authentic and traditional as possible but with all modern day amenities,” Bharath-Hernandez said.

“It will comprise a main centre to be used as a meeting and cultural space which will be located in the centre of the village. Spiritual rituals will also be conducted there. There will also be an official residence for the Carib Queen, Jennifer Cassar,” he added.

Arrangements are now being made to send the bones to France for further analysis.

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Last week, the Carib chief and representatives from other indigenous groups here met with officials from Parliament and the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UdeCOTT), which is carrying out the renovation work.

“We were told that as soon as the results are in we would be called back for another meeting and they will wait on our proposal on how to proceed,” Barath-Hernandez told IPS following the meeting that was also attended by archaeologist Dr. Peter Harris, who had earlier told a local newspaper that the receptacles found in the pits are similar to those used by the Amerindians.

Heritage consultant Dr. Kris Rampersad said the recent finds of skeletal remains and artefacts point to the need for a comprehensive archaeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago.

She is hoping that universities here take the lead to establish an “all-encompassing programme in heritage studies that incorporate research, scientific, conservation, restoration, curatorial and forensic study among other fields that would advance the knowledge and understanding of Trinidad and Tobago’s prehistory and multicultural heritage.

“This also has value to the region and the world. We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism. The find under the Red House of bones potentially dating to the beginning of this epoch points to the significant need for a proper survey and actions to secure and protect zones that are of significant historical and prehistoric importance,” she told IPS.

Rampersad referred to the neglect by the authorities of another famed Banwari historical site south of here, and hoped that in the case of the discovery at the Red House, history does not repeat itself.

The Banwari Site is said to have been the home of the Banwari man, whose remains date back 7,000 years and which is considered one of the most significant and well-known archaeological treasures of the region.

Discovered some 40 years ago, little has been done to preserve and promote the site.

The Archaeology Centre at the University of the West Indies (UWI) said that in November 1969, the Trinidad and Tobago Historical Society discovered the remains of a human skeleton at Banwari Trace.

“Lying on its left-hand side, in a typical Amerindian ‘crouched’ burial position along a northwest axis Banwari Man was found 20-cm below the surface. Only two items were associated with the burial, a round pebble by the skull and needlepoint by the hip. Banwari Man was apparently interred in a shell midden and subsequently covered by shell refuse.

“Based on its stratigraphic location in the site’s archaeological deposits, the burial can be dated to the period shortly before the end of occupation, approximately 3,400 BC or 5,400 years old,” the UWI noted.

In 1978, Harris hailed the Banwari man as the oldest resident of Trinidad and an important icon of the country’s early antiquity.

“Why, 40 years later, as one of the richest countries in the region, must we be looking to other universities from which to draw expertise when by now we should have full-fledged – not only archaeological, but also conservation, restoration and other related programmes that explore the significance of our heritage beyond the current focus on song and dance mode?” Rampersad asked.

“While scholarly collaborations are important, certainly we could be more advanced, and a leader rather than a follower in these fields in which several other less-resourced Caribbean countries are significantly more advanced,” said Rampersad, who has been conducting trainings across the Caribbean on available mechanisms for safeguarding its heritage.

The discovery at the Red House coincides with recent findings by the U.S.-based National Geographic Genographic Project that the indigenous people may have had strong ancestral links to Africa and to Native American Indians.

Utilising DNA, the U.S.-based organisation tested 25 members of the community in July last year. Bharath-Hernandez says the results will hopefully put to rest questions that have been raised regarding the community’s identity in the past.

The results of the project were released to Bharath-Hernandez late last month by Dr. Jada BennTorres from the University of Pennsylvania.

“We have completed preliminary analysis of the mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome (NRY markers). These analyses will tell us about the maternal and paternal lineages of the community members,” wrote BennTorres in her letter thanking the Santa Rosa Karina community for its participation.

She said the findings of the genetic ancestry of community “indicate a complex ancestry that includes Africans, in addition to a very strong Native American ancestral component” and that all of the 25 individuals tested would receive their information at a later date.

IT’S time to stop paying lip service to First Nation people and move to protect this country’s history, heritage consultant Dr Kris Rampersad has said in the wake of the discovery of a set of bones beneath the Red House in Port of Spain.

Two weeks ago, skeletal remains were found beneath the Parliament Building. The remains were accompanied by artefacts, such as pottery pieces, typical of the indigenous peoples.

In her Internet blog, Demokrissy, Rampersad referred to the need for a comprehensive archeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago.

“This also has value to the region and the world,” said Rampersad, who has been conducting training across the Caribbean in available mechanisms for safeguarding its heritage.

“We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism.

“The find under the Red House of bones potentially dating to the beginning of this epoch points to the significant need for a proper survey and actions to secure and protect zones that are of significant historical and prehistoric importance.”

Commenting on another famed--but neglected--historical site, Rampersad noted the neglect of the Banwari site in San Francique, south Trinidad.

The Banwari Site was the home of the Banwari man, a 7,000-year-old inhabitant and one of the most significant and well-known archeological treasures of the region.

Discovered some 40 years ago, little has been done to preserve and promote the site.

At a recent workshop, the potential of T&T’s heritage assets as UNESCO World Heritage sites were discussed, Rampersad said.

However, there was concern among Caribbean colleagues that this country was yet to move to effecting the research, legislation and other actions necessary to pin the sites as being of value.

Rampersad said Trinidad’s entire south-west peninsula was a key entry point in the migration of prehistoric peoples.

“So much of the history of the region is still unknown and so much of the accepted theories are being challenged,” Rampersad said.

TRADITIONAL: President of the Santa Rosa First Peoples (Carib) Community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez, in traditional wear, shows off an artist’s impression of the Amerindian Village to be built on the 25 acres of land located on the Blanchisseuse Road, which was given to the community by the Government.

—Photo: CURTIS CHASE | Trinidad Express Newspapers.

DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) testing on descendants of the indigenous peoples in Arima has confirmed very strong ancestral links to Africa and to Native American Indians.

This was the finding of a National Geographic Genographic Project which was conducted on some 25 members of the 600-strong Santa Rosa First Peoples (Carib) Community sometime in July 2012.

With the results just in, president of the community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez believes it is good for the community’s identity which is sometimes questioned, as to whether it is the real thing.

As he puts it, “We never claimed to be a pure indigenous community, we know we are of mixed descent, but at the same time we are very conscious of where we came from. We can trace our ancenstry.”

The results come at a time when pottery artefacts and bone fragments believed to be of Amerindian heritage dating back to AD 0-350 were discovered by workers doing restoration works at the Red House in Port of Spain about three weeks ago.

The fragments are strongly believed to date back to the Amerindian era and Chief Bharath-Hernandez has already visited the site, which formerly housed the Office of the Parliament, and stands ready to perform the necessary ancestral rituals once it is confirmed that the fragments are indeed Amerindian.

He explained that the community was excited to participate further in the Genographic Project in an effort to trace the paternal and maternal lineages of all of its 600 members.

The results of the project were released to Bharath-Hernandez on March 28 by Dr Jada BennTorres from the University of Pennsylvania, who is responsible for administering the project to the local community.

In her letter, Dr BennTorres thanked the Santa Rosa Karina (Carib) community for participating in the project and explained, “We have completed preliminary analysis of the mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome (NRY markers). These analyses will tell us about the maternal and paternal lineages of the community members.”

According to her, the findings of the genetic ancestry of the community “indicate a complex ancestry that includes Africans, in addition to a very strong Native American ancestral component”.

She added that all 25 individuals would receive their information at a later date and that more detailed findings of the analyses would be released to the community.

Bharath-Hernandez told the Express that swabs were taken from participants’ mouths and while members were fearful of giving blood, the tests did not involve blood samples. He said a lot of people were scared and sceptical so a mere 25 participated. He, however, hopes to convince more people to test their DNA.

At present Chief Bharath-Hernandez is consumed with plans to construct permanent home for his community on 25 acres of land given to the group by the State last December.

“We plan to construct a modern Indigenous Amerindian Village, meaning we want to keep the village as authentic and traditional as possible but with all modern-day amenities.

“It will comprise a main centre to be used as a meeting and cultural space, which will be located in the centre of the village. Spiritual rituals will also be conducted there. There will also be an official residence for the Carib Queen, Jennifer Cassar; a cassava-processing plant to make farine, cassava flour, cassava bread and casaripe; a craft centre where the people will be doing the indigenous craft, as well as an indigenous museum to display our artefacts.”

The president added that there will be a guest house to accommodate visitors and students who wish to do ethnographic studies.

“The plan is to have ten to 12 families living there permanently and they would be responsible for the management of the place. We are also going to have an agricultural focus, consisting of wildlife and crop farming.

“We intend to conduct eco-tours and nature trails, because the intention is to keep a major portion of land in its natural form,” the chief said.

He spoke of the need for a natural watercourse through the land, which, he said, would have been possible, had the State granted them the 200 acres they requested.

“There is one on adjacent lands, west of the village but that plot is privately owned and we may want to ask for that as well,” he said.

Originally, he said the Amerindians were given 1300 acres of land.

“We have evidence that the Mission of Arima was established and the land was lost to the British, but with the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, one of the articles states that governments should work with indigenous communities to redress some of those wrongs.”

He said the 25 acres was long in coming.

“The journey took 40 years to reach here, starting with Dr Eric Williams in the 1970s, who, on a visit to Arima, was approached by then-Queen Edith Martinez for assistance for the Santa Rosa Festival.

He instructed the Arima Corporation to give a grant of $200, which was used to register the community.

“That grant moved to $500 and now stands at $5,000. Successive governments over the years provided some assistance by way of small grants, but the idea of 200 acres of land was first discussed with the Basdeo Panday administration in 1995.”

“In 1990, the NAR government approved a $30,000 yearly grant, but it was in 1995 when then-prime minister Basdeo Panday met with us to discuss a request for 200 acres.

“The idea is that most of the land would remain in its natural formation, because of the importance of forest to the indigenous community, it would not be cleared for commercial use.”

Chief Bharath-Hernandez noted, however, that although the 25 acres were awarded in December 2012, he is yet to receive any official documents.

“We have also not yet discussed under what terms the lands would be given. We are hoping it is not a lease arrangement, but a grant in light of the fact that the community once owned 1,300 acres.

“It has been a long process, about 40-plus years, we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. It may not be finished in my lifetime but a major part would be established, “he said.

The community observes a Day of Recognition on October 14 annually, and Bharath-Hernandez is hoping that with a permanent and spacious home, the community could do more to mark its heritage.

As to how soon the development is expected to start, Bharath-Hernandez said “it could start as soon as tomorrow”.

He spoke of forming partnerships with numerous agencies, including the Ministry of Tourism, “who sees the village as having tourism potential”.

He said the promised lands are now before the Director of Surveys, the results of which will inform the type of development to take place on the land.

Bharath-Hernandez said preliminary discussions are also on with a well-known designer for possible layout of the village.

He added that his members have mixed feelings about the Amerindian Village. “They are excited, but because most of them are old they lament they might not be around to be a part of the development.

“But we are already seeing some interest expressed by the younger ones, because, for the first time, they could have a livelihood and see ways for their own development.”

The newly registered name, Santa Rosa First Peoples Community, has also gone a long way in removing the stigma of the community being associated with an alcoholic beverage, a popular brand name chicken and cannibalism, he said.

10 April 2013

The history of Trinidad begins with the settlements of the islands by Amerindians. Both islands were explored by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands. Trinidad remained in Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. In 1888 the two islands were incorporated into a single crown colony. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.

Human settlement in Trinidad dates back at least 7,000 years. The earliest settlers, termed Archaic or Ortoiroid, are believed to have settled Trinidad from northeastern South America around 5000 BC. Twenty-nine Archaic sites have been identified, mostly in south Trinidad; this includes the 7,000-year-old Banwari Trace site which is the oldest discovered human settlement in the eastern Caribbean. Archaic populations were pre-ceramic, and dominated the area until about 200 BC.

Around 250 BC the first ceramic-using people in the Caribbean, the Saladoid people, entered Trinidad. Earliest evidence of these people come from around 2100 BC along the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. From Trinidad they are believed to have moved north into the remaining islands of the Caribbean. Thirty-seven Saladoid sites have been identified in Trinidad, and are located all over the island.

Saladoid red on white ceramic artifacts.

After 250 AD a third group, called the Barrancoid people settled in southern Trinidad after migrating up the Orinoco River toward the sea. The oldest Barrancoid settlement appears to have been at Erin, on the south coast.

Following the collapse of Barrancoid communities along the Orinoco around 650 AD, a new group, called the Arauquinoid expanded up the river to the coast. The cultural artifacts of this group were only partly adopted in Trinidad and adjacent areas of northeast Venezuela, and as a result this culture is called Guayabitoid in these areas.

Around 1300 AD a new group appears to have settled in Trinidad and introduced new cultural attributes which largely replaced the Guayabitoid culture. Termed the Mayoid cultural tradition, this represents the native tribes which were present in Trinidad at the time of European arrival.

Their distinct pottery and artifacts survive until 1800, but after this time they were largely assimilated into mainstream Trinidad society. These included the Nepoya and Suppoya (who were probably Arawak-speaking) and the Yao (who were probably Carib-speaking). They have generally been called Arawaks and Caribs. These were largely wiped out by the Spanish colonizers under the encomienda system. Under this system which was basically a form of slavery, Spanish encomederos forced the Amerindians to work for them in exchange for Spanish "protection" and conversion to Christianity. The survivors were first organized into Missions by the Capuchin friars, and then gradually assimilated. The oldest organized indigenous group in Trinidad is the Santa Rosa Carib Community centered in the town of Arima, although several new groups have developed in recent years.

This was my I post in the A to Z Challenge 2013. I live on the tiny Caribbean island of Trinidad, the larger of the two islands which make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. My theme this year is True to Trinidad and Tobago. I invite you to explore my home with me. The rest of my A to Z posts can be found here.

discovered during restoration works at the Red House in Port of Spain last week.

Ongoing restoration work at the Red House, Port of Spain may have to be suspended pending an official report on the discovery of bones and artefacts found in the foundations of the building, a UDeCOTT source has said.

One week ago a number of bones and Amerindian artefacts were found at a depth of seven feet in two foundation pits at the building. The Express learned that Dr Valery Alexandrov of the Forensic Science Centre has confirmed that the bones are similar to human bones, but he was not in a position to confirm whether they were Amerindian or otherwise.

Arrangements are being made to send the bones to France for further analysis. Some of the bones found resembled jaw bones with teeth, as well as bones in the lower region of the human body.

Meanwhile archaeologist Peter Harris has confirmed that the receptacles found in the pits are similar to those used by the Amerindian. Further investigations as to the origin are also under way by a team from the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

In order to carry out the necessary restoration work on the Red House, the Parliament building had to be moved to Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain while work is in progress.

The existing building is the second to be erected on the same spot. The first was in 1844 and the second in 1907.

The Express learnt that during construction in 1844 land fill from nearby Laventille was used in the foundation. “That is the first lead we have concerning the discovery,” said a source.

History of renovations

In 2011, the People’s Partnership Government announced that taxpayers had spent over $200 million over an eight-year period on the restoration of the historic building. During that period the project was managed by the National Insurance Property Development Company (Nipdec).

In 2012, Government announced that it would have to spend an additional $200 million to complete the restoration, bringing the figure to half a billion when work is completed in 2015. Ad-hoc renovations over the years had led to a number of problems which included modifications of the original design, leaking roofs, insect infestation and deterioration of the original structure.

The restoration led to Parliament being relocated from the historic location at the heart of the city to Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain in September 2011.

04 April 2013

Extinguished. Vanished. Wiped out. These are just some of the words historians have used to describe the fate of the Taíno, the indigenous group that greeted the Spanish when they first set foot in the Americas in 1492. Even dictionaries define them as an “extinct Arawakan Indian tribe of the West Indies.” But try telling the growing number of people living in the Caribbean—Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico and other islands—as well as the United States mainland who identify themselves as Taíno that they no longer exist.

Frank Bosch Jr., identifies himself as Taíno. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York—with the accent to prove it—he is outraged over what he believes are lies in most mainstream history textbooks. “My ancestors are being labeled as dinosaurs—[the] museums and texts are wrong,” he says.

For most of his childhood, Bosch had no real awareness of his indigenous roots. All he knew was that he was Puerto Rican. But there were other traditions that were always present in his household, like the Santería that his grandmother practiced. A mixture of African, Indian and Spanish religious beliefs and practices, Santería is, he says, a form of voodoo. “She had little figurines, rocks with chalk written on it and stuff like that in the closets. There are two sides. They say one is good, and one is bad,” he says. A devout Catholic, Bosch says he was frightened by what his grandmother was doing.

When he was 16, after being asked “Where you from?” one too many times, Bosch decided to learn more about his Puerto Rican heritage, and he discovered it was a blend of three groups: African, Spanish and Taíno. He read every book, article or study he could get his hands on. One of the most significant works was a mitochondrial DNA study conducted in the early 2000s by Juan Martínez Cruzado, a genetics professor at the University of Puerto Rico, which found that nearly 62 percent of Puerto Ricans are Amerindian. Now 30, Bosch, a UPS worker, photographer and competitive bodybuilder, continues his quest, which will soon have him taking a sample of his DNA to be tested. He says he just wants confirmation and to pinpoint where the bloodlines are.

That history has been told by Irving Rouse in his book, The Taínos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus. He says the Taíno people—whose ancestral origins have been traced back to the Guianas, the Orinoco Valley and Amazonia in South America—emerged in the West Indies in the latter part of the first millennium a.d. and reached their heyday at around 1200 A.D. Those who welcomed the Spaniards used the word Taíno, which translates to good or noble. This was not to identify the name of their race but to explain who they were not—their neighbors inhabiting the Windward Islands, the fierce Island-Caribs. They had different names for themselves: in Puerto Rico, for example, they were the Borinquen (also Boriken), and in the Bahamas, the Lucaya. Theirs was a society of villages ruled by a cacique (chief) and regional chiefdoms and that thrived on an economy based primarily on agriculture—growing such crops as cassava, sweet potato, beans and peppers—along with fishing.

The Taíno population and way of life deteriorated rapidly following the arrival of the Europeans. The men were forced away from their farms and into the gold mines, where, brutally overworked, many perished. There was starvation, and the lethal diseases the Spanish brought with them, including a small pox outbreak in 1519, and rebellions against the colonizers. The Taíno were further diminished by suicide, interbreeding with Spanish people and slaves brought in from Africa and other Caribbean islands, and by flight. When Columbus arrived, chroniclers of the day estimated they numbered more than 1 million on Hispaniola and Puerto Rico alone. “By 1524 they had ceased to exist as a separate population group,” writes Rouse.

Roberto Borrero identifies himself as Taíno. Named by Taíno community members Mukaro (translates to “Owl”), he grew up in New York City’s Spanish Harlem. He says he was more fortunate than most other inner-city kids in that his parents—who were born in Puerto Rico—started bringing him to the island and exposing him to his indigenous heritage at a young age. However, he stresses, there was never a focus on being Taíno. It wasn’t denied, but it wasn’t explored. “When my mother mentioned our Native heritage,’ he says, “for me, as a young kid in the city, it didn’t feel real because the only images I was getting of indigenous identity were from TV, and that was cowboys and Indians, and we didn’t look like that. We didn’t live in tipis. We didn’t ride horses. Who really wanted to be associated with that—they always seemed to be losing on TV.”

As Mukaro matured, he began to appreciate his Indian ancestry, the agricultural heritage of his father’s family, who lived on the island’s southwestern coast; the Native creation stories his uncle recited; his mother’s traditional cooking style, like the pasteles made from yucca; and the fermented drink made from tree bark that sat in the window sill of his family’s apartment when his grandfather visited them.

Mukaro’s interest in his Taíno background blossomed in high school. He recalls a history class that covered Columbus, the Aztecs and Mayans, without as much as a footnote on the Taíno. “I’m like, Wait a minute! Don’t we have a part in this story? Didn’t he meet our people first? At least that’s what I heard in my family. When I approached teachers on this, they said, ‘Oh, no. These people were wiped out.’ ” [I wondered], How could they be wiped out when I am here?”

Mukaro blames the disparity in the way history is taught in school—how the Taíno people have been dismissed—on who has, for the most part, told that history: the victors or the conquerors. There are not many books on Taíno history written from the Indian perspective, which he believes has added to the confusion in its own communities.

For Mukaro, now president of the United Confederation of Taíno People, a group devoted to promoting and protecting the human rights, cultural heritage and spiritual traditions of Taíno and other Caribbean Indigenous Peoples, there is no confusion. There is nothing to debate. The Taíno, he says, “never ceased to exist.”

Evidence of their survival can be found in the West Indies, where a few communities have held onto their Taíno heritage. Mukaro says they are located in undeveloped, mountainous areas in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The same can be said of Puerto Rico before all of the development and industrialization. “Operation Bootstrap in the 1940s kind of pushed people out of these rural areas so it could be developed,” Mukaro explains. “Many of these folks were coming from this rural heritage, from this heritage that retained many of the Taíno traditions. So, they brought a lot of that with them to the urban areas.”

There is also proof in the movement of people reclaiming their Taíno identity. José Barreiro, assistant director for research and director of the Office of Latin America at the National Museum of the American Indian, identifies himself as Taíno. He was born and raised in Cuba, and moved with his parents to the United States in his teen years. He says the movement started in force in the early to mid 1980s and exploded with the birth of the Internet. His Taíno, a novel that recounts the life of a historical character, Guaikán, a Taíno, who as a boy is taken to Spain and adopted by Columbus after his first voyage and returns to the islands to serve as the navigator’s interpreter, was scooped up by the Taíno rediscovery wave when it was released in hardcover in 1993 (it was published in paperback in 2012).

“The identity itself has picked up a lot of strength,” Barreiro says. “Among our people, we are seeing families reuniting around these ideas.”

Just as exciting is a recent thrust by scholars to explore the survival of the Taíno. The national museum, for instance, has a project under way in conjunction with other museums and institutions in the contiguous United States and the Caribbean to explore Caribbean indigenous cultures, with a focus on the Taíno. Over the past two years, it hosted two workshops to explore sustaining cultural elements, such as language, tools, the construction of homes, medicine, identity and the various enclaves of Taínos in the Caribbean. Barreiro said the research will culminate in an exhibition at some point in 2015 or 2016.

02 April 2013

In as much as my first post for the A to Z Challenge 2013 was about Archaeology, I've selected this article about the oldest resident on my island: Banwari Man. I was hoping to visit the site where he was found but perhaps later in the year.

In November 1969, the Trinidad and Tobago Historical Society discovered the remains of a human skeleton at Banwari Trace. Lying on its left-hand side, in a typical Amerindian “crouched” burial position along a northwest axis, Banwari Man (as it is now commonly called) was found 20-cm below the surface and is presently located at the museum of the University of the West Indies. Its feet were higher than the rest of the body, and unfortunately were excavated and bagged separately. Only two items were associated, a round pebble by the head and a needle point by the hip. Its situation in a shallow pocket of humus, apparently excavated into the shell midden, and subsequently covered by normal shell refuse, places burial shortly before end of occupation, probably about 5500 years ago.

The archaeological site at Banwari Trace where the skeleton was found is located in Southwest Trinidad, and was featured in World Monument Watch 2004, an internationally acclaimed magazine that highlighted the world’s 100 most endangered sites. Dr. Basil Reid, Head of The University of the West Indies Archaeology Centre and Lecturer in Archaeology at UWI, wrote about the importance of this historical site to our cultural heritage and pre-Columbian history.

“Dated to about 5000 B.C. (years Before Christ) or 7000 B.P (years Before Present), it is the oldest pre-Columbian site in the West Indies. Banwari Trace sheds considerable light on the patterns of migration of Archaic (pre-ceramic) peoples from mainland South America to the Lesser Antilles via Trinidad between 5000 and 2000 B.C.”

Dr. Reid explained that Banwari Trace’s antiquity holds much significance for understanding the migratory patterns of Archaic peoples from South America into the Caribbean region. Also as the oldest Archaic site in the West Indies, Banwari Trace clearly indicates that southwest Trinidad was one of the first migratory “stops” for northward-bound Archaic settlers who eventually colonized several islands in the Caribbean archipelago.

The 3,127.2-m² property on which the site is situated is now Government-owned, having being acquired from a private landowner in March 2000; while the skeletal remains of Banwari Man are presently in the custody of the Life Science Department, U.W.I., St. Augustine. Preserved with cellulose-in-acetone, the skeleton is in a secure environment and is very much available for future studies by a physical anthropologist.

Banwari man, or woman, is still the oldest skeleton in the West Indies, and its survival for 5000 years at 20cm below the surface is nothing short of miraculous.

This was my B post in the A to Z Challenge 2013. I live on the tiny Caribbean island of Trinidad, the larger of the two islands which make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. My theme this year is True to Trinidad and Tobago. I invite you to explore my home with me. The rest of my A to Z posts can be found here.